Report of Swansea’s Olympic Stadium BUCS Outdoor Championship results

By Club Captain Tom Bowerman
Swansea finished 15th out of 117 universities in the BUCS outdoor championships held at the Olympic Stadium between Friday 4th-Monday 7th May.

BUCS team at the Olympic Stadium

Sunday proved to be Swansea’s best day of the championships with AU athlete of the year Dewi Griffiths missing out on a gold medal by just over a second in the 10,000 metres running 30 minutes 21, in one of the most exciting races of the weekend.

Caryl Granville then impressively gained a bronze medal in the 400 meter hurdles.

BUCS indoor long jump champion Imelda Morrison carried on her good form with a 5.75 meter jump on Monday to place 5th in the LJ final.

Other finalists included Ritchie Wells who came 6th throwing 55 metres in the hammer final which was dominated by 3 Loughborough students, additionally Ash Andrews came 9th throwing 47 metres.

The other throwing finalist William Trimble came 11th in the Javelin throwing 53 meters.

Swansea unfortunately suffered near misses for finals and semi-finals, Verity Ockenden impressively gained two Personal bests in the 800m finishing in 5th in 2.12.21 in her semi-final.

Mike Nevill came 2nd in his 200m heats but 22.5 was not enough to qualify for the semis.

Additionally Emrys Penny and Tom Bowerman’s times of 9.58 and 10.03 in the 3000m steeplechase would usually make the final however not this year.

Bowerman leading in the 800m semi-finals

Bowerman also missed out by 0.11 seconds on the semi-finals of the 800m running 1.57 on Saturday evening; additionally Laura Keeley jumped 10.81m in the triple jump and was just 6cm away from making the final.

Despite a series of near failures 15th in BUCS outdoors is Swansea’s highest finish for many years and all athletes who competed over the weekend cherished the experience of competing in front of thousands of people.

For me watching the men’s 4x 400m relay team race in front of 40,000 people on Saturday night, with thousands of cameras flashing and people cheering will be a memory that will not be forgotten.

Overall the Olympic stadium is a fantastic stadium which should see many Olympic athletes this summer gain substantial personal bests.

Tom requested that thanks and congratulations be offered to Track and Field Captain Lewis Banner, who asides from a strong leg in 4×400 race had spent countless hours organising the weekend and leading the team.